Sobering Center Committee

Last updated:Monday, June 26, 2017

The Grants Pass Sobering Center, which opened in April 2016, was an idea borne by several community members that began in part under the umbrella of SOS, quickly formed its own independent nonprofit organization, then grew into a reality. It remains its own independent nonprofit organization with its own board of directors.

The idea behind the sobering center was to create a place where police could bring people who are too intoxicated to care for themselves. The 12-room, 4,500-square-foot center gives those people a place to sober up, and connects them with resources for battling drug and alcohol addiction.

Before the center existed, intoxicated people who posed a risk to themselves or others had no place to go, and it was only after they committed a crime that they were taken to the Josephine County Jail. Because of the county’s severe budget constraints, jail beds are in high demand and very costly. Temporarily housing intoxicated people at the sobering center frees up valuable jail-bed space, allowing the Sheriff’s Office to keep other criminal suspects locked up. It also eases the burden on our local hospital’s emergency room and the criminal justice system.

Some other facts about the Sobering Center:

The center is located in a former recycling center on Foundry Street, near downtown

The Grants Pass Sobering Center Project received $500,000 in one-time funding from the state in 2015 for startup costs

The annual cost to operate the center is between $250,000 and $300,000. That funding has so far come from grants and private donations. Donors and other supporters include MRIPA, Primary Health, Asante, AllCare, Options, LADPC, Evergreen Bank and the city of Grants Pass.